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Introduction
Nearly 75 percent of all students enrolled in postsecondary programs in the United States attend public institutions, ranging from two-year community colleges to comprehensive four-year baccalaureate- and master’s-conferring state schools to doctoral degree–granting research universities. 4 Public research universities serve a distinct and indispensable role in this educational landscape. In addition to producing research and scholarship, public research universities provide economic development and technical assistance to their communities, states, and nation, as well as opportunities for anchor-institution collaborations. While other institutions may address these needs individually, public research universities are charged with addressing them together as effectively, efficiently, and affordably as possible.
1 National Science Board, Diminishing Funding and Rising Expectations: Trends and Challenges for Public Research Universities (a companion to Science and Engineering Indicators 2012 ) (Arlington, Va.: National Science Foundation, 2012), http://www.nsf.gov/nsb/sei/companion2/files/nsb1245.pdf . For the purposes of this project, public research universities are defined as institutions that are Carnegie-classified as Very High Research Activity or High Research Activity as of 2014, are located in one of the fifty states, and educate undergraduate students. See National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS [Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System] (U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences), https://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/ .
2 National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS.
3 Additionally, 61 percent of first-time, full-time freshmen come from the top quarter of their graduating high school class, and 35 percent come from the top fifth of their graduating high school class. See U.S. News & World Report , U.S. News College Compass (2015).
4 National Center for Education Statistics, “Digest of Education Statistics,” Table 303.10, “Total Fall Enrollment in Degree-Granting Postsecondary Institutions, by Attendance Status, Sex of Student, and Control of Institution: Selected Years, 1947 through 2023” (U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences), http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d13/tables/dt13_303.10.asp .
5 National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS.
Top Public Schools
Public colleges and universities typically operate under the supervision of state governments and are funded, in part, by tax dollars and subsidies from the state. As a result, these universities often offer discounted tuition to residents of their states. Public schools run the gamut from small liberal arts colleges to large research institutions. These are the highest-ranked public colleges and universities in the 2025 Best Colleges rankings, listed according to their ranking category. Read the methodology »
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Here are the best public universities in the U.S.
- University of California--Los Angeles
- University of California, Berkeley
- University of Michigan--Ann Arbor
- University of Virginia
- University of North Carolina--Chapel Hill
- University of California, San Diego
- University of Florida
- The University of Texas--Austin
- Georgia Institute of Technology
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